Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.

²And a man with leprosy came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

³Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present theoffering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁵And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, begging Him,

⁶and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, terribly tormented.”

⁷Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

⁸But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

¹⁰Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faithwith anyone in Israel.

¹¹And I say to you that many will come from east and west, andrecline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;

¹²but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go;it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

¹⁴When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.

¹⁵And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him.

¹⁶Now when evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.

¹⁷This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR ILLNESSES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”

¹⁸Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.

¹⁹Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

²⁰And Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

²¹And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”

²²But Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

²³When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.

²⁴And behold, a violent storm developed on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.

²⁵And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

²⁶He *said to them, “Why are youafraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.

²⁷The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

²⁸And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men confronted Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.

²⁹And they cried out, saying, “What business do You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

³⁰Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding at a distance from them.

³¹And the demons begged Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

³²And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the pigs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.

³³And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.

³⁴And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they pleaded with Him to leave their region.

¹‘Now this is the law of the guilt offering; it is most holy.

²In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering they are to slaughter the guilt offering, and the priest shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.

³Then he shall offer from it all its fat: the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails,

⁴and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins; and he shall remove the lobe on the liver with the kidneys.

⁵The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as an offering by fire to the LORD; it is a guilt offering.

⁶Every male among the priests may eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.

⁷The guilt offering is like the sin offering: there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.

⁸Also the priest who presents anyone’s burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the hide of the burnt offering which he has presented.

⁹Likewise, every grain offering that is baked in the oven and everything prepared in a pan or on a griddle shall belong to the priest who presents it.

¹⁰Every grain offering, mixed with oil or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aaron, to all alike.

¹¹‘Now this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which shall be presented to the LORD.

¹²If he offers it by way of thanksgiving, then along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving he shall offer unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of well stirred fine flour mixed with oil.

¹³With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving, he shall present his offering with cakes of leavened bread.

¹⁴Of this he shall present one of every offering as a contribution to the LORD; it shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings.

¹⁵‘Now as for the flesh of the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offerings, it shall be eaten on the day of his offering; he shall not leave any of it over until morning.

¹⁶But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what is left of it may be eaten;

¹⁷but what is left over from the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire.

¹⁸So if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is ever eaten on the third day, he who offers it will not be accepted, and it will not be credited to him. It will be an unclean thing, and the person who eats it shall bear his punishment.

¹⁹‘Also the flesh that touches anything unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be burned with fire. As for other flesh, anyone who is clean may eat such flesh.

²⁰But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the LORD, when he is unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people.

²¹When anyone touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or any unclean detestable thing, and eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the LORD, that person shall be cut off from his people.’ ”

²²Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²³“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall not eat any fat from an ox, a sheep, or a goat.

²⁴Also the fat of an animal which dies and the fat of an animal torn by animals may be put to any other use, but you certainly are not to eat it.

²⁵For whoever eats the fat of the animal from which an offering by fire is offered to the LORD, the person who eats it shall also be cut off from his people.

²⁶And you are not to eat any blood, either of bird or animal, in any of your dwellings.

²⁷Any person who eats any blood, that person shall also be cut off from his people.’ ”

²⁸Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁹“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the LORD shall bring his offering to the LORD from the sacrifice of his peace offerings.

³⁰His own hands are to bring offerings by fire to the LORD. He shall bring the fat with the breast, so that the breast may be presented as a wave offering before the LORD.

³¹And the priest shall offer up the fat in smoke on the altar, but the breast shall belong to Aaron and to his sons.

³²And you shall give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from the sacrifices of your peace offerings.

³³The one among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat, the right thigh shall be his as his portion.

³⁴For I have taken from the sons of Israel the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their allotted portion forever from the sons of Israel.

³⁵‘This is the allotment to Aaron and the allotment to his sons from the offerings by fire to the LORD, on that day when he presented them to serve as priests to the LORD.

³⁶These the LORD had commanded to be given them from the sons of Israel on the day that He anointed them. It is their allotted portion forever throughout their generations.’ ”

³⁷This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering, and the ordination offering and the sacrifice of peace offerings,

³⁸which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day that He commanded the sons of Israel to present their offerings to the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai.

¹And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but only as fleshly, as to infants in Christ.

²I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able,

³for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people?

⁴For when one person says, “I am with Paul,” and another, “I am with Apollos,” are you not ordinary people?

⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.

⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.

⁷So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

⁸Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

⁹For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it.

¹¹For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

¹²Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,

¹³each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work.

¹⁴If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

¹⁵If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire.

¹⁶Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

¹⁷If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

¹⁸Take care that no one deceives himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.

¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE BY THEIR CRAFTINESS”;

²⁰and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE THOUGHTS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE useless.”

²¹So then, no one is to be boasting in people. For all things belong to you,

²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,

²³and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

¹Therefore, I urge elders among you, as your fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and one who is also a fellow partaker of the glory that is to be revealed:

²shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not with greed but with eagerness;

³nor yet as domineering over those assigned to your care, but by proving to be examples to the flock.

⁴And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

⁵You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT HE GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.

⁶Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time,

⁷having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.

⁸Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

⁹So resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world.

¹⁰After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

¹¹To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹²Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!

¹³She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark.

¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ.

¹Then Elihu continued and said,

²“Do you think this is in accordance with justice? Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?

³For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You? What benefit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’

⁴I will answer you, And your friends with you.

⁵Look at the heavens and see; And look at the clouds—they are higher than you.

⁶If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him? And if your wrongdoings are many, what do you do to Him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give to Him, Or what does He receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness is for a man like yourself, And your righteousness is for a son of man.

⁹“Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.

¹⁰But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,

¹¹Who teaches us more than the animals of the earth And makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’

¹²There they cry out, but He does not answer Because of the pride of evil people.

¹³God certainly will not listen to an empty cry, Nor will the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴How much less when you say you do not look at Him, The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

¹⁵And now, because He has not avenged His anger, Nor has He acknowledged wrongdoing well,

¹⁶So Job opens his mouth with empty words; He multiplies words without knowledge.”

¹The LORD reigns, may the earth rejoice; May the many islands be joyful.

²Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

³Fire goes before Him And burns up His enemies all around.

⁴His lightning lit up the world; The earth saw it and trembled.

⁵The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

⁶The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory.

⁷May all those be ashamed who serve carved images, Who boast in idols; Worship Him, all you gods.

⁸Zion heard this and was joyful, And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced Because of Your judgments, LORD.

⁹For You are the LORD Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰Hate evil, you who love the LORD, Who watches over the souls of His godly ones; He saves them from the hand of the wicked.

¹¹Light is sown like seed for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart.

¹²Be joyful in the LORD, you righteous ones, And praise the mention of His holy name.

¹Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²For I give you good teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.

³When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

⁴He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart take hold of my words; Keep my commandments and live;

⁵Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not abandon her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your possessions, acquire understanding.

⁸Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her.

⁹She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I have instructed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; And if you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil people.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹They are not to escape from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their body.

²³Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

²⁴Rid yourself of a deceitful mouth And keep devious speech far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

²⁶Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established.

²⁷Do not turn to the right or to the left; Turn your foot from evil.

¹Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose twelve thousand men and let me set out and pursue David tonight.

²And I will attack him while he is weary and exhausted and startle him, so that all the people who are with him will flee. Then I will strike and kill the king when he is alone,

³and I will bring all the people back to you. The return of everyone depends on the man whom you are seeking; then all the people will be at peace.”

⁴And the plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵Nevertheless, Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let’s hear what he has to say.”

⁶When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Ahithophel has proposed this plan. Should we carry out his plan? If not, say so yourself.”

⁷So Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the advice that Ahithophel has given is not good.”

⁸Then Hushai said, “You yourself know your father and his men, that they are warriors and they are fierce, like a bear deprived of her cubs in the field. And your father is an expert in warfare, and he will not spend the night with the people.

⁹Behold, he has now hidden himself in one of the ravines, or in another place; and it will be that when he falls on them at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!’

¹⁰And even the one who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will completely despair; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.

¹¹But I advise that all Israel be fully gathered to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, like the sand that is by the sea in abundance; and that you personally go into battle.

¹²Then we will come to him in one of the places where he can be found, and we will fall on him just as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him, not even one will be left.

¹³And if he withdraws into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the valley until not even a pebble is found there.”

¹⁴Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had ordained to foil the good advice of Ahithophel, in order for the LORD to bring disaster on Absalom.

¹⁵Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “This is what Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do, and this is what I have advised.

¹⁶Now then, send a messenger quickly and tell David, saying, ‘Do not spend the night at the river crossing places of the wilderness, but by all means cross over, or else the king and all the people who are with him will be destroyed.’ ”

¹⁷Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, and a female servant would go and inform them, and they would go and inform King David, for they could not allow themselves to be seen entering the city.

¹⁸But a boy did see them, and he told Absalom; so the two of them left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it.

¹⁹And the woman took a cover and spread it over the well’s mouth and scattered barley meal on it, so that nothing was known.

²⁰Then Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have crossed the brook of water.” And when they searched and did not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹It came about after they had departed, that they came up out of the well and went and reported to King David; and they said to David, “Set out and cross over the water quickly, because this is what Ahithophel has advised against you.”

²²Then David and all the people who were with him set out and crossed the Jordan; by dawn not even one remained who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³Now when Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out and went to his home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; so he died and was buried in his father’s grave.

²⁴Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

²⁵Absalom put Amasa in command of the army in place of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who had relations with Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

²⁶And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,

²⁸brought beds, basins, pottery, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, roasted seeds,

²⁹honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David and the people who were with him, to eat. For they said, “The people are hungry and exhausted and thirsty in the wilderness.”

¹“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

²This is what the LORD says: “The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness— Israel, when it went to find its rest.”

³The LORD appeared to him long ago, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you out with kindness.

⁴I will build you again and you will be rebuilt, Virgin of Israel! You will take up your tambourines again, And go out to the dances of the revelers.

⁵Again you will plant vineyards On the hills of Samaria; The planters will plant And will enjoy the fruit.

⁶For there will be a day when watchmen On the hills of Ephraim call out, ‘Arise, and let’s go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.’ ”

⁷For this is what the LORD says: “Sing aloud with joy for Jacob, And be joyful with the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’

⁸Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them those who are blind and those who limp, The pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; They will return here as a great assembly.

⁹They will come with weeping, And by pleading I will bring them; I will lead them by streams of waters, On a straight path on which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn.”

¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, you nations, And declare it in the coastlands far away, And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, And He will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

¹¹For the LORD has ransomed Jacob And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

¹²“They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, And they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD— Over the grain, the new wine, the oil, And over the young of the flock and the herd. And their life will be like a watered garden, And they will never languish again.

¹³Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old together; For I will turn their mourning into joy And comfort them, and give them joy for their sorrow.

¹⁴I will refresh the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the LORD.

¹⁵This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamenting and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”

¹⁶This is what the LORD says: “Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears; For your work will be rewarded,” declares the LORD, “And they will return from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷There is hope for your future,” declares the LORD, “And your children will return to their own territory.

¹⁸I have certainly heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was corrected, Like an untrained calf; Bring me back that I may be restored, For You are the LORD my God.

¹⁹For after I turned back, I repented; And after I was instructed, I slapped my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated Because I bore the shame of my youth.’

²⁰Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will certainly have mercy on him,” declares the LORD.

²¹“Set up roadmarks for yourself, Place guideposts for yourself; Direct your mind to the highway, The way by which you went. Return, O virgin of Israel, Return to these your cities.

²²How long will you waver, You rebellious daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: A woman will shelter a man.”

²³This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes, ‘The LORD bless you, O place of righteousness, O holy hill!’

²⁴Judah and all its cities will live together in it, the farmers and those who travel with flocks.

²⁵For I give plenty of water to the weary ones, and refresh everyone who languishes.”

²⁶At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep had been pleasant to me.

²⁷“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of mankind and the seed of animals.

²⁸And just as I have watched over them to uproot them, tear them down, ruin, destroy, and bring disaster on them, so I will watch over them to build and to plant them,” declares the LORD.

²⁹“In those days they will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, But it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt.’

³⁰But everyone will die for his own wrongdoing; each person who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will become blunt.

³¹“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

³²not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.

³³“For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

³⁴They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”

³⁵This is what the LORD says, He who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— The LORD of armies is His name:

³⁶“If this fixed order departs From Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the descendants of Israel also will cease To be a nation before Me forever.”

³⁷This is what the LORD says: “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also reject all the descendants of Israel For everything that they have done,” declares the LORD.

³⁸“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

³⁹The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead, to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.

⁴⁰And the entire valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD; it will not be uprooted or overthrown ever again.”

¹Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

²While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.

⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him,

¹⁰and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

¹¹Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

¹²Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁴But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

¹⁶Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.

¹⁸For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.

¹⁹When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about 450 years.

²⁰After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

²¹Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

²²After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

²³From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

²⁴after John had proclaimed, before His coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the declarations of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.

²⁸And though they found no grounds for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed.

²⁹When they had carried out everything that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised Him from the dead;

³¹and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.

³²And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,

³³that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU.’

³⁴As for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and faithful mercies of DAVID.’

³⁵Therefore, He also says in another Psalm: ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’

³⁶For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, and was buried among his fathers and underwent decay;

³⁷but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.

³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

³⁹and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

⁴⁰Therefore, see that the thing spoken of in the Prophets does not come upon you:

⁴¹‘LOOK, YOU SCOFFERS, AND BE ASTONISHED, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’ ”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these things spoken to them the next Sabbath.

⁴³Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The next Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.

⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE APPOINTED YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’ ”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.

⁵¹But they shook off the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.